Table of Contents

ORDER OF SUBJECTS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME

Notitia. 9 JOHN CANTACUZENUS EMP. 17 BOOKS IV OF THE HISTORIES OF JOHN CANTACUZENUS. ibid.

Prolegomena. 41 BOOK ONE. 41 NILUS TO CHRISTODULUS. 59

^A CAP. I. — The death of Michael Palaeologus, his impiety toward his grandson, and his most prone disposition toward his illegitimate son. 65

^B CAP. II. — The origin of the discord between the two emperors named Andronicus. Cantacuzenus’s freedom in refusing the oath. The grandson’s colloquy with Syrgiannes regarding health and the preservation of dignity, and the mutual love between the grandson and Cantacuzenus. The consultation of the latter and Syrgiannes in Thrace. 69

^C CAP. III. — Cantacuzenus’s speech to Syrgiannes. He laments that he must give an opinion on a matter so uncertain and dangerous; he praises and pities his grandson: he forebodes future calamity: he declares that he will not prefer friendship to justice: he affirms that they should rather slip away somehow than fight with arms, short of final necessity. 75

^D CAP. IV. — Syrgiannes approves the Grand Domestic’s plan. Two cities are chosen for flight: Christopolis is preferred to Adrianople. Cantacuzenus, leaving his wife at Calliopolis, comes to Byzantium, and announces to Andronicus the Younger what they have decided: he commends to him Alexius Apocauchus, an obscure man but prudent, for Syrgiannes’s favor. Andronicus embraces these proposals and shows his magnanimity and equity. 77

CAP. V. — A dire message from the grandfather. Another and ancient cause of the discord between the emperors, namely the grandson’s overly loose life, and the grandfather’s insults toward him. 81

CAP. VI. — The grandson sends an envoy to his grandfather: that man’s virtue is lauded. The substance of the embassy: that he is being treated more harshly than his offenses deserve; and that he forgets he is a father. If he continues to hate him, let him designate another emperor. The grandfather, remembering with how much love he loved him even before he was born, excuses his severity and rigor. It returns to the preceding narrative, and the interrupted matters are woven together. 87

CAP. VII. — The grandson clears himself regarding his word; saying he spoke while pained and troubled, and hoping the paternal mind could be so moved to mercy. He asks for pardon. The Grand Domestic, having returned from Thrace, learns the events and pledges his faith and service even to the altars. Deliberation is held concerning a place of refuge. An embassy from the Cral, prince of the Triballi, and the craftiness of the envoy Callinicus. 93

CAP. VIII. — Callinicus, sent as envoy to the Cral about an alliance, brings the matter to a happy conclusion. Andronicus the Younger’s proposal to take Theodore Synadenus, the protostrator, as a companion in his counsels and dangers. Regarding the faith and promises of the three Genupenses. Adrianople is chosen again for flight. The grandfather’s inhumanity and importunity toward his grandson. Solace from the Grand Domestic. The recall of Syrgiannes from Thrace. Consultation on the method of leaving Byzantium. 99

CAP. IX. — The protostrator suggests the elder emperor should be placed in custody, and Syrgiannes killed; the Grand Domestic persuades them to stick to the former opinion. Reproved by Syrgiannes for stubbornness, he defends himself wisely and refutes both. 107

CAP. X. — The grandson shows remarkable observance toward his grandfather, and is prepared to suffer cruelties from him himself rather than inflict them upon him. By whatever fortune is given, he will use it. If his associates desert him, he will take it bitterly. His will being praised, the protostrator and Syrgiannes decide to depart from Byzantium while it is still possible. It is inquired whether the empress should be brought along or left at Constantinople. 111

CAP. XI. — Cantacuzenus’s reasons why the empress should be left at Constantinople. Syrgiannes is sent away to his prefecture in Thrace; the others remain in Byzantium. The grand contostaulus and the grand logothete Metochites, most learned men, attempt in vain to deter the old emperor from his undertaking. 115

CAP. XII. — The grandson is summoned by his grandfather, and is warned by the protostrator about his craftiness. Summoned again, he goes into the palace, while the protostrator follows and waits outside. The Grand Domestic arrives; he learns what has been done; he declares his own counsel. The custom of the Genoese and Venetians of venerating the emperor on the Lord's day. The Genoese quickly arm three triremes. The protostrator’s eagerness for battle. 123

CAP. XIII. — The junior emperor having gone out, he searches for the Grand Domestic. They mutually indicate what was done on either side. A history is inserted regarding the delayed counsel of the senior. The grandson is summoned again through a eunuch, and indeed to judgment, with great pity and tears from the one calling him. He exhorts his associates to the duty to be performed by him at such a time. They promise everything and accompany him to the palace. 129

CAP. XIV. — The assessors of Andronicus the elder in judgment are enumerated. His accusation against the junior is set forth, and the latter’s defense. His status is absolved; for he denies having been privy to the crimes alleged; he admits having committed lesser ones. He reproaches his grandfather for excessive bitterness against him. The latter bursts into an insult, which the grandson repels. 133

CAP. XV. — The Grand Domestic and the protostrator wish to bring aid to the grandson, and are placated in vain. The grandfather is warned of the imminent danger; he proposes four conditions to the youth if he wishes to obtain pardon; he refuses all except two. 139

CAP. XVI. — The old man inveighs against his grandson with threats. The grandson asks for pardon for his offenses; he kisses his feet, though he is resistant, and receives a kiss from him. A feigned reconciliation, and for that reason, empty joy. The Grand Domestic, ordered to go into the Peloponnese, informs the grandson and the protostrator. They consult about this matter. 145

CAP. XVII. — The grand logothete refuses the impunity of the grandson’s associates: he adds a reason, which the grandson, thinking better (as was understood later), refutes. The Grand Domestic, lest he seek the Peloponnese, asserts a made-up and empty cause. Reproved by the emperor for small-mindedness, he is ordered to go into Thessaly: he demands sufficient forces and money. The prefecture of Prilipus is entrusted to the protostrator. 151

CAP. XVIII. — The Grand Domestic hesitates to leave Byzantium, and remaining afterward at the city, he awaits money and soldiers. The protostrator is also forced to depart. A booklet is found at the bedside of the junior emperor. His departure from the city; his auspicious entry into Adrianople. The senior orders his leader, having pursued the fugitives, to bring back the grandson in chains. He teaches that the persecution will be vain. 159

CAP. XIX. — Andronicus the younger is deprived of the emperor’s name and judged an enemy; his power grows. Envoys are sent to him regarding peace. The soldiery becomes tumultuous. An excellent example of fortitude and of a lofty spirit in Theoleptus the bishop. He testifies to the truth. The youth, asserting his innocence, dismisses the envoys with hope for peace. The old man’s power is weakened. 163

CAP. XX. — The grandson complains in council about yesterday's tumult; he proposes the grandfather's petition, which all reject with one voice. And since the grandfather pledges he will do what the grandson wishes, he asserts he ought to wish that he yield the empire to him, or that they attack Byzantium with arms. The assembly is dismissed, and they deliberate further with three friends. It is decided to give the old man space whereby he may prepare himself for resistance, lest he be overcome unexpectedly. The junior is unable to persuade the army to march to the west. 169

CAP. XXI. — The Grand Domestic also, dissuading the attack on Byzantium, urges the western expedition. Why each of them feigned this is discussed in the final chapter. The army shows it will prepare itself in some part, but unwillingly. They are permitted to go to Constantinople. A purgatory letter is sent secretly to the grandfather from the grandson, by which he also warns him to protect himself. 175

CAP. XXII. — Treachery against Andronicus the younger by Sphentisthlabus, king of the Mosians (Bulgarians). An embassy of the grandfather about delaying his arrival at the city for a little while. The grandson’s speech to the army about laying down arms and embracing peace. The assent of all.

CAP. XXIII. — The response of the grandson to his grandfather, full of duty. He asks for a portion of the empire from him, and an oath. He swears.

^A senior, rescinds the anathema, restores to him the name of emperor, and magnificently commends his virtue. That he sent Apocauchus to him to exact the oath, he speaks of with grief, and vituperates that man. The Palaeologina excuses the deed; the grandson also excuses it, affirming that he did not send that obscure man as an envoy, but as a courier. 183

CAP. XXIV. — The junior emperor, having returned to Adrianople, summons his wife there. He spends the summer in surveying and organizing the cities. Syrgiannes perfidiously defects to the old man. The grandson, reproaching him for that defection, exhales him to cultivate faith henceforth. Syrgiannes denies the things pointed out, but is convicted by Byzantine letters. He is again admonished concerning his duty, and sets out for Perpegal and Byzantium. War rekindles; the grandson stirs up the army to take up arms against the adversaries. A miraculous eagerness for fighting in all. 189

CAP. XXV. — The junior emperor, having commended the administration of the cities to Theodora, the mother of the Great Domestic, a most prudent woman, sets out for Byzantium. The nobles and commanders of the army, with him not resisting, send a letter to the elder and demand peace. Tumult in the palace. 195

CAP. XXVI. — Xena, the mother of Andronicus the junior, is brought to Byzantium as a captive from Thessalonica. Calochaeretes vehemently and even suppliantly persuades the elder to peace. 199

CAP. XXVII. — An embassy of the grandson to the grandfather concerning peace; which he seeks again not far from the walls of Byzantium, but in vain. His fever, and a flow of blood from the nostrils. The defection of the Great Stratopedarch. The crimes of Syrgiannes. 203

CAP. XXVIII. — The solicitude of Andronicus the younger. The benevolence of the Great Domestic and of his mother toward him is altogether remarkable and singular. The prudent and festive oration of that same matron. 209

CAP. XXIX. — Apros is besieged and taken by storm. The emperor’s admonitory address to the captive soldiers, and his humanity toward them. A small Christian exhortation to his own men concerning the moderation of victory and mercy toward the vanquished. 211

CAP. XXX. — Garella, Rhaedestus, and Sergentzium make their surrender. The emperor is torn by the insults of the rustic Saccensians; the fortress itself burns in a miserable fire. A signal example of loyalty to his master and of charity toward an enemy by a certain shepherd, through which the Stratopedarch is absolved of the charge of treason. 215

CAP. XXXI. — Happy tidings concerning Thessalonica and Constantine the Despot. He is led to the emperor dressed in the habit of a monk; he is committed to prison. Those who had violated the Empress Xena are punished publicly. Lemnos defects to the junior. The Persians, coming to the aid of the senior, struck with fear of the junior, return home shamefully. They flee also from Byzantium. 221

CAP. XXXII. — The embassy of the senior to his grandson. He declares himself deceived; he inclines toward peace. The answer is given that peace will be to his heart’s content. It is decided with the Great Domestic that, in order to stop the mouth of the sycophants, all things must be surrendered into the hands of the grandfather. Concerning which matter the emperor deals with the princes and the whole army, with the Great Domestic and the Protostrator openly approving his sentiment; to which, however, the nobility and the commanders concede unwillingly. 227

CAP. XXXIII. — The answer of the grandson to his grandfather concerning the admitted peace, and the surrender into his power, of himself and of all his affairs. Concerning the field assigned to the soldiers. Concerning the paying of the stipend. Concerning his own house. Concerning the uncle, the Despot. The admiration of the old man, and the common joy at Constantinople, concerning the most happy outcome of the embassy. 230

CAP. XXXIV. — Xena, the mother, is sent to the elder Andronicus to give thanks and to offer an oath. The old man also swears to the conditions. The grandson advances to Constantinople to salute his grandfather. The grandfather meets him. The custom of saluting between emperors who meet is indicated. A concourse from all sides takes place to see the young man. 241

CAP. XXXV. — The providence and diligence of the senior emperor in appointing magistrates. Terteres his son succeeding Sphentisthlabus, the king of the Mysians, captures Philippopolis; he raids certain towns. Andronicus the younger plunders the borders of Moesia. The trial of Syrgiannes, as one guilty of treason. 245

CAP. XXXVI. — Terteres, king of the Mysians, dies. Many Mysian towns surrender themselves to the Roman; some Boesilas claims for himself. Philippopolis is besieged in vain. A description of a certain machine for besiegers. The princes of the Mysians create Michael, the son of a certain dynast, king. The death of Boesilas, a dynast of the Mysians and friend of the Romans, is falsely announced. The reasons why they must abstain from conflict with Michael. 249

CAP. XXXVII. — Philippopolis is recovered by chance. Michael besieges Boesilas, who is betrayed by his own. Michael plunders the borders of the Romans; he offers the emperor a duel;

^A

BOOK TWO.

Cap. I. — It teaches, after the transition, how he provided for his grandfather and how reverently he treated him. He grants the Great Logothete pardon, and the city’s prefecture to the Protostrator. He is unable to obtain from the Patriarch the remission of the offense against the opposing bishops. He gives thanks to others who had served him well. There is an account of the searching for Marcus Caballarius and his being brought into the emperor’s presence; from which both the power of conscience in him and a certain divine clemency in the emperor shine forth. 407

Cap. II. — The Great Domestic, sent to reconcile the bishops to the Patriarch, accomplishes nothing: days are set for the judgment. A dispute arises among the bishops concerning the intention of the Domestic. He himself makes a plea on behalf of the accused and moves the Patriarch. Those acquitted give thanks to the emperor, who, having rewarded his friends separately, benefits the community as a whole. 415

Cap. III. — The King of the Mysians ravages Upper Thrace. The emperor, intending to fight him, departs for Bizye. Mysus secretly withdraws home, having used a ruse. The emperor, making an incursion into Mysia, takes Diampolis. Breaking into Thrace again, Mysus occupies Bucelus and besieges Probatum. He is reproached for his perfidy with threats. He puts forward a cause, his wife's right to the paternal empire. He is refuted by the production of the law, and terrified by the magnitude and confidence of the Roman army. He promises to return Bucelus and keep the peace. The cause of the Mysians' boldness. The soldiers grieve that they are deprived of spoils. Friendship is renewed. Both return home. 419

Cap. IV. — The Great Domestic obtains a milder imprisonment for Syrgiannes. Afterward, he seeks his freedom. The emperor wonders why he had not asked for it immediately, since he would have granted everything to his favorite, the magnitude of which he declares. The Domestic himself also proclaims his own love for the emperor and gives the reason for his action. Angelus the Great Stratopedarch is commended as an excellent general. Xena, the emperor’s mother, is angry that she was kept in the dark by the Domestic regarding Syrgiannes. Syrgiannes is released from custody. 427

Cap. V. — The Germans, by right of hospitality, ask to be assisted with money by the emperor. The Great Domestic replies that the treasury is exhausted, but that they will supply them with soldiers. The Germans refuse; they say they have a surplus of soldiers. They are sent away with honor. The craftiness of the Domestic is set forth. Also, how, with the emperor’s approval, he shifted part of his burdens and cares onto the shoulders of Apocauchus. The reasons why the emperor traveled to Cyzicus. He makes peace with the satrap Zamerchanes, who was harassing the eastern cities of the Romans. Mysus strikes an everlasting treaty with the emperor. 435

Cap. VI. — The emperor considers invading the Barbarians in Bithynia. He is incited and instructed by the counsel of the commander Contophris. The Barbarians withdraw to higher ground. The satrap Orchanes dwells in mountainous and difficult terrain. These things being observed, it pleases the Romans not to advance further. However, on the next day, with the battle line drawn up on the plain, they wait for them. Orchanes draws up his men against them and places a part in ambush. The battle is described, the wonderful variety of which is notable; victory lies with the Romans, to which the emperor’s excellent speech contributed most of all. 441

Cap. VII. — The counsel of the Great Domestic, because the enemy confessed themselves defeated, is to return to camp and go back to Byzantium the next day. This is approved; they return to the camp; a triumph is sung. A part of the Persians pursues those leaving; an engagement takes place on the way, when certain men had deserted their ranks; the Domestic and the emperor go to bring them back; but both do so with the greatest danger. The Sebastopulus is put to flight with three hundred men. A messenger is sent to the Protostrator in Byzantium; the camps are guarded. 451

Cap. VIII. — Orchanes praises the Romans, or the enemy, before his troops; he advises withdrawing to a safer place. The elders dissuade him and teach on what grounds they must remain in the same place. There is a twofold rumor through the camp about the emperor and the trepidation of the soldiers; the Domestic cannot prevent their flight. He searches in vain for the emperor, who was carried away in a boat to Constantinople. The fleeing army disperses into four towns. The calamity received at Philocrene. 457

Cap. IX. — The emperor’s incredible love for the Great Domestic is expressed again. It is taught how greatly he strove to have him as his partner in the empire; which honor he nevertheless constantly and repeatedly refused, although otherwise he differed in no way at all from the emperor in the matter of fact, inasmuch as the entire administration of the empire resided with him. But for certain reasons, he abstained from the name and the insignia; which, however, as we shall see in the third book, he admitted afterward for certain reasons. 463

Cap. X. — How Benedict Zacharia the Genoese, and his descendants, made the island of Chios their own. Calothetus, the dynast of Chios, points out the occasion for recovering it to the mother of the Great Domestic, having been invited by her; from whom the son and the emperor [set out] to Didymotichum.

ORDO RERUM

indignant, regarding how matters should be handled with Martinus, who then held Chios. 473

CAP. XI. — The number of ships setting out for Chios: the ambitious contention of the trierarchs. Upon what condition the emperor decided to leave the prefecture of the island to Martinus. His contumacy. Calothetus fears to assist the Romans. Benedictus delivers the fortress to the emperor. Martinus, his affairs being desperate, surrenders, and is snatched from the hands of the Chians by the Great Domestic. Martinus is led into chains; his wife, children, and servants are punished with exile. A double condition is proposed to his soldiers. The emperor’s spirit, not so much [a spirit] of gratitude towards those wishing to serve him well. 479

CAP. XII. — The emperor, wishing to show favor to Benedictus, desires to honor him with the prefecture of Chios, together with very ample revenues. The man, greedy and ambitious, dares to seek the whole island as his own private property. The emperor attempts to heal him. Time is given for deliberation. He persists stubbornly in his opinion. He requests triremes from Galata, which the emperor denies him. Again, time for deliberation is granted, and Benedictus is taken for a fool. The Great Domestic’s plan for avoiding infamy for the emperor. Benedictus is condemned as insane by the assembly of the Latins. Exquisite honors, along with twenty thousand gold coins, are promised to him: he scorns all. The emperor’s virtue is praised: Benedictus sails to Galata. 483

CAP. XIII. — The emperor, coming to Old Phocaea, is honored by two Persian satraps. He accepts the surrender of New Phocaea, which he entrusts to Arego the Genoese as prefect. The Persians, ravaging Trajanopolis and Beren, are partly slain, partly captured. Benedictus, with eight triremes, is driven to Chios for the sake of vengeance and the subjugation of the island, with an unhappy outcome. 493

CAP. XIV. — The emperor, dangerously ill, entrusts the empire for the third time to the Great Domestic; he refuses for the third time. The speech of the emperor, now dying as he believed, is truly pathetic; in which, having summoned the orders and with his wife also present, he says farewell, and requests prayers of expiation. He designates the Great Domestic as administrator in his place, to whom he commends the empress. Tears are shed by all, hair is torn, breasts are beaten. Weeping, they say farewell to him. From the people, anyone is permitted to enter the palace and bid him health and farewell. He beseeches the physicians to clothe him in the monk’s cowl before [he suffers] death. 497

CAP. XV. — The emperor decides nothing concerning Xena the mother. The Great Domestic receives oaths; he appoints prefects of the cities; he rejects the imperial insignia for the fourth time; he cannot be compelled to kill the Despot Constantine or put out his eyes, and he secretly lets him go free. The Protostrator of Byzantium is made aware of the state of the emperor; he is ordered both to swear himself and to exact the oath from others. 501

CAP. XVI. — Andronicus the Elder, fearing for his life, [is] a monk. The younger [emperor] again demands the monastic habit, and obtains it with huge joy. He is somewhat angry at the Domestic, due to whom the spiritual father—whom he most desired—was prevented from coming to him at such a time. The Domestic’s tears. His physician also bears the intrigue with difficulty; and the Domestic’s expostulation with him. For he did not want the emperor to be clothed in the cowl, because he hoped he might be able to recover, and he feared that, overcome by joy, as happens to some, he might die, or persist in living among the monks for the future. How he frightened the same physician. The emperor’s final command concerning his lifeless body. 505

CAP. XVII. — The compassionate Great Domestic, [seeing] the emperor already near death, as he judged, [is moved] because of the troubles that would arise for him from the empire. He again testifies to his love. The overflow of the Domestic’s lamentations and tears. The physicians respond that he would die the next night. All the signs of death are present; Libitina is prepared; he is healed by water from the spring of the Mother of God. All acknowledge the miracle, and show themselves grateful to God for the deeds. 515

CAP. XVIII. — The Great Domestic renders an account of the affairs. He does not approve of Syrgiannes being sent to the West with troops; yet he forbids his revocation. He who is alienated from the Domestic by the letters of informers. The tragedy of the Despot is narrated, and he is liberated from prison. The emperor learns his grandfather has become a monk. He asks the cause: the Domestic indicates what is rumored, and consoles the emperor’s grief. The emperor warns him of his past thought, which [is treated] in the following chapter. 521

CAP. XIX. — Andronicus the Younger, intending to return the empire to his grandfather, communicates the matter with the Great Domestic; who, after he understood that the intention was serious, warns him to consider carefully with himself first what he is doing. Three reasons are proposed which they believe would move the emperor, and they are refuted. The emperor himself, denying that he is moved by them, brings forward two others by which he is impelled. 525

CAP. XX. — In this speech, the Domestic attempts to refute the two causes brought forward by the emperor, by which he was moved to return the empire to his grandfather; [namely] the detraction of the wicked, and [his own] honor and pleasure. He speaks very oratorically. The emperor betakes himself to Byzantium to give thanks to the Divine Mother for the health he received. Concourses of men to see him. He tours the cities of Thrace. 529

CAP. XXI. — Persian raiders are slaughtered; Achris is liberated from the siege of the Triballians. The king of the Moesians and the emperor, having struck an alliance, invade the region of the Triballians. Thraus the Triballian meets the Moesians with his full forces; he partly slays and partly puts the enemies to flight. The king, wounded, dies. Crates plots nothing against the emperor. Michael’s wife, the emperor’s sister, is captured with her children. It is decided in the council that they should go into Moesia, where great hopes were being displayed, and the expulsion of the emperor’s sister was a just occasion for war. Moesia is devastated; several towns surrender. The Great Domestic advises that John the presbyter be put in place of the patriarch Isaiah, and he moves the bishops to this by a certain clever stratagem. 557

CAP. XXII. — Persian plunderers are killed, put to flight, and captured. A portion, hearing these things, flees to the East. Syrgiannes plots a conspiracy against the Domestic. The Domestic’s equanimity. Zamplaco confesses Syrgiannes to the emperor; he defends himself with denial. 551

CAP. XXIII. — In his crisis, Syrgiannes implores the saving help of the Great Domestic, and confessing his guilt, promises better things. The Domestic, enumerating his merits toward him, convicts him of having been most ungrateful, and promises aid on a condition. Furthermore, he is taught by an elegant apologue what Syrgiannes had done, and what he ought to do now. 557

CAP. XXIV. — With witnesses now present, the siege of Nicaea is announced. The emperor sets out there with the fleet. It does not come to a battle, but peace is concluded on certain conditions. The trial of Syrgiannes is conducted; he seeks a deferment, again begs for the aid of the Great Domestic, and takes himself off to Galata by a clandestine flight, in fear of Byzantium. Though searched for by the emperor himself, he is not found. From there he flees to Euboea, and afterwards to the Kral, and performs service for him against the Romans. The emperor levies an army against him. 561

CAP. XXV. — A certain Sphranzes, to return favor to the emperor for his merits, offers himself to him against Syrgiannes. He consults with the Domestic as to how they might capture the enemy alive and in chains without a battle: the matter is entrusted to Sphranzes, and the prefecture is committed to him. The emperor leads an army into Macedonia; a Persian incursion, and misfortune. The ruse by which Sphranzes throttled Syrgiannes. The rewards bestowed upon him. Peace with the Kral. Cities conquered by Syrgiannes return to the faith of the emperor. Auxiliaries are sent to the Kral against the king of the Hungarians, and are sent home with honor. 567

CAP. XXVI. — By the faction of two princes, the queen, Michael’s first wife, is driven from the kingdom; Alexander, the son of Stranzimer, is created king, and recovers cities given to the emperor with the aid of the Moesian and Scythian auxiliaries. The Protostrator is sent as prefect to Mesembria. The Persians, about to besiege Nicomedia, flee home upon the arrival of the emperor. The incursion into Moesia. The cowardice of the Moesians. Peace is made on the condition that the Romans return Diampolis to the Moesian for the recovery of Anchialus. 577

CAP. XXVII. — Scythians come to Alexander as reinforcements against his uncle, whom he sends against the emperor by fraud; with whom, and together with the Moesians, a most bitter battle is fought. The Moesians are superior. Alexander seeks an alliance and the emperor's daughter as a wife for his son. The affinity is deferred, the treaty is concluded, the alliance is consummated, and the Romans are highly praised by the Moesians. 583

CAP. XXVIII. — Amurius, the Persian satrap, invades Thrace. The Roman meets him: yet the initiation of the battle is made by neither. The Persians go home. Andronicus the Elder and Xena, the emperor’s mother, depart this life. Monomachus, the governor of Thessaly, encroaches upon the principate. The Thessalian highlanders defer obedience to the emperor. He comes to the Kral unexpectedly, as a friend, with whom he spends seven days pleasantly. 589

CAP. XXIX. — A certain Dominicus the Genoese occupies the island of Lesbos. The emperor, reproaching the Galatans for the crime, contends there with a fleet. Those who defected from Dominicus fear to fight with the Romans. The Pincerna is left to besiege Mitylene; the remaining towns surrender themselves to the Romans. Aid is requested from the satrap Sarchane to besiege Phocaea and Mitylene, with a promise of the liberation of the hostages. The Phocaeans defend themselves bitterly. Cheter, Amur, and Solaimasas, the sons of the satrap of Ionia, pledge their faith to him. The clandestine treachery of Roman nobles. 593

CAP. XXX. — A huge aid of Persians. The colloquy and friendship between the Great Domestic and Amurius the Persian satrap, and the authority of the latter before the former. The Domestic, having been invited into the ta-

tavern of a certain nobleman of his, a Latin named John Spinula, attempts with a lengthy speech to persuade him to surrender the city. 601 ^B CAP. XXXI. — Spinula confesses his guilt and seeks advice from the Domestic. He urges that he seek pardon from the Emperor, that the Persian hostages be remitted to him, and that Mitylene and Phocæa be restored. The Domestic shows how many good things the Emperor intends to bestow upon them in return, and exhorts them to hasten. Phocæa and Mitylene are returned. The Persians joyfully accept their hostage sons: the whole of Lesbos is recovered. 603 ^C CAP. XXXII. — The rebellion and incursions of the Albanians. The hope of recovering Acarnania. An expedition against the Albanians with Persian reinforcement; the victory and the immensity of the spoils. The cities which had previously been vexed by the Albanians celebrate a feast. The Persians return home. Conflicting opinions of the Acarnanian nobles concerning the admission of the Emperor; the counsel of the Queen herself. 613 ^D CAP. XXXIII. — The Queen’s counsel is approved. Envoys are sent to the Emperor. He agrees to the marriage with the Domestic’s daughter, but refuses autonomy. Acarnania is surrendered. The clemency and munificence of the Emperor toward those who surrendered, and his foresight in each city. The boy Nicephorus is moved by malevolent men to Tarentum. The Emperor, having appointed prefects and a praetor, and thanking God that the province was finally recovered, departs for Thessalonica. He pledges his daughter to Alexander, king of the Messians. 621 ^A CAP. XXXIV. — An incursion of the Persians, and the illustrious virtue of the Great Domestic and the Emperor himself in slaughtering, capturing, and putting them to flight. The wedding at Adrianople of his daughter Maria with Michael, the son of Alexander. The new bride is led into Mœsia. The Acarnanians defect; they cast the protostrator into prison; they demand Nicephorus back from the prince of Tarentum and seek aid from her. This woman willingly dismisses him, together with one of her two daughters, to whom he was betrothed. Who this woman was and how ambitious she was. John Angelus the Pincerna and Monomachus are sent with troops into Acarnania. The Emperor later coming there performs memorable feats. 625 ^B CAP. XXXV. — The Great Domestic with difficulty obtains a colloquy with Cabasilas. He reproaches him for the defection of the cities. Having returned on the third day, he attempts in vain to sway him toward surrender. At last he persuades him, and, intending to carry the joyful news to the Emperor, he dines at a fountain on the way. Cabasilas comes there, seeking counsel. He dismisses him once he has been instructed, and on the following day, in the name of the Emperor, he receives the city. Cabasilas is brought with the leading men by the Great Domestic to the Emperor, and pledges constant fidelity. The Emperor praises and rewards him and the rest. The people of Arta heap curses upon the people of Rhogoi and remain obdurate. 635 ^C CAP. XXXVI. — The Great Domestic chastises the stubbornness of the people of Arta: he shows what good things they have lost and what evils they are about to suffer. He takes ill their insults against the people of Rhogoi. He teaches how unjustly they resist and how Acarnania is owed to the Romans. He urges them to commit themselves to his faith. The people of Arta resolve upon surrender; they excuse their past obstinacy. The Great Domestic praises them and gives thanks. — The infirmity of the Emperor and the army. 637 ^D CAP. XXXVII. — The people of Thomocastron are besieged by the Great Domestic. Why they were so proud and refractory. They are exhorted to surrender. He deals with many people for the same purpose and with the tutor of Nicephorus. The tutor refers the matter to the leading men and reports back; it seemed good to the council that surrender should be made to the Emperor. The Domestic praises the deed; he commands the tutor to return to him with Nicephorus and the nobles. 645 ^A CAP. XXXVIII. — Nicephorus, with the leading men, is led by the Domestic to the Emperor and is received humanely and munificently. Matthæus Cantacuzenus, son of the Great Domestic, leads home the daughter of the Despot Demetrius. Apocauchus strives eagerly that he may be allowed to become a monk. His entreaties are suspicious to the Emperor. His mind is scrutinized. He insists again, and requests the command of the fleet against the Barbarians, as being healthy for himself and the republic, and obtains it. The Emperor holds Apocauchus to be a sluggard and a wicked man. The castles which he built and the cities which he restored are enumerated. 653 ^B CAP. XXXIX. — Concerning the Latin monk Barlaam, and how he started disturbances in the Church of Constantinople. The praise of Gregory Palamas and his two brothers for their monasticism. Barlaam is warned to cease lacerating with insults the life of the Hesychasts. Concerning the light which shone around the saints, and that the Divine and uncreated light can be seen by bodily eyes. Concerning the light on Mount Tabor, which Barlaam denies is uncreated. 661 ^C CAP. XL. — A synod in the temple of Sophia. Barlaam argues the case first. Palamas answers him on behalf of all, and teaches what the light on Tabor was. Barlaam suppliantly prays for the assistance of the Great Domestic. His prudent counsel. The opposition of Barlaam. The reply of the Domestic, by which moved, he confesses his guilt in the synod. Pardon is lovingly given. Barlaam relapses, and fleeing into Italy, becomes a bishop. Concerning the new disturbances which Gregory Acindynus, the disciple of Barlaam, stirred up. The Emperor’s illness. Apocauchus persuades the Great Domestic to take the imperial insignia, but he is rejected. His mother also rejects him. The counsel of the Domestic to the Empress, and the death of the Emperor. 671. Argument of the third book. 693 703 ^D

BOOK THREE

^A twice and again, Apocauchus meditates on capturing the young emperor and reigning. Being discovered, he flees to his stronghold and, to escape death, reminds the Grand Domestic of the inconstancy of human affairs; by whom he is in turn advised, very wisely, that one must rely first of all on God. 759

CAP. XI. The Peloponnesian Latins submit themselves to the Emperor on certain conditions. Their letters to the Grand Domestic, full of kindness and goodwill. The envoys are treated magnificently and are dismissed with promises and gifts. Senacherimus is substituted for Apocauchus, and his deeds. The conspiracy and embassy of the governors of the West; and why they wished to meet the Grand Domestic. 765

CAP. XII. Crales, having broken the treaty, ravages Macedonia. Consultation on suppressing him. The opinion of the Grand Domestic concerning prioritizing the Peloponnesian expedition, for which one must return to Byzantium, and what is to be done there, and whither one must go once all has been prepared. Coming to Byzantium, he is received honorably. He salutes the sick Empress and consoles her who is still mourning, and shares his thoughts with her, which she approves. 769

CAP. XIII. A confused clamor before the palace; the Grand Domestic thinks the cause of it is some dispute; he learns that he himself is the cause, for whose honor the soldiers and nobles were fighting with their tongues against the patriarch. He tells the matter to the Empress, warning her to punish the insolent men, which she does, having distributed the punishment into specific parts. 773

CAP. XIV. Punishment for Apocauchus, and his deeds being used again while the Domestic is absent. The Empress flatly refuses. The wickedness and crime of Apocauchus against the Grand Domestic (but first his birth and status) through Xena, the Emperor's mother, by whom he is vehemently accused to her son of affected tyranny and is defended by him, and is again invited to the purple, and refuses. He also flatly abhors sowing discord between son and mother, which some were suggesting. 777

CAP. XV. Detractors and enemies try to return to grace for fear of evil. Apocauchus labors especially at this. He writes letters; he enumerates the merits he has received; he accuses himself of being ungrateful; he asks for pardon; he promises that he will be a grateful and good man. The Domestic chides his ungrateful mind but grants pardon; how the same Apocauchus caused a riot on account of the prefecture of the treasury, whom the Empress severely rebukes as being overconfident and proud. 785

CAP. XVI. Apocauchus is stripped of the dignity bestowed by the Domestic, and is held in contempt; he pacifies him through his friends and the patriarch. He reconciles him with the Empress. Men are sent to bring him to Epibates, but he refuses to come. The Domestic, having exhorted everyone to concord and peace, departs from Byzantium. He puts off betrothing his daughter to the Emperor. Apocauchus on the road voluntarily surrenders himself to him and purges himself concerning the oaths previously rejected. His conversation with the mother of the Grand Domestic; by whom he is admonished to show himself a friend more by deeds than by oaths. 791

CAP. XVII. Apocauchus begins to speak of his office in order to prepare the mind of the patriarch. Then he drags the Domestic into hatred by a false accusation. He urges him to go to meet the danger. He offers his own daughter as a wife to his son. The betrothal takes place. He suggests that the Domestic must be secretly attacked, and that the Empress should be goaded against him through deceit and falsehood, and he prescribes the method for this matter. What the Domestic answered his father-in-law, who was begging for the liberation of his sons from chains. 795

CAP. XVIII. By the same blandishment, Apocauchus tempts Andronicus Asanes, the father-in-law of the Domestic, and urges him against his son-in-law with his falsehoods, while he pretends that he does not want to free his sons from custody, even though he can; and he spurs Asanes himself to the desire for empire, which he was also doing with the patriarch. He also advises that he should embitter the Empress against the Domestic and soothe the man with the hope of empire. He pledges his own service. No distinction to be made between truth and falsehood, which he had also advised before. 801

CAP. XIX. Having disposed of Andronicus Asanes, he attacks his two brothers; he pretends to grieve on their behalf; he accuses them of sloth in seeking freedom. Finally, with similar sentiments, he incites them against the Domestic as he had the others; nor is there anyone more audacious, more impudent, and more wicked than this man. At length he also captures Gabalas the Grand Drungary, the Grand Stratopedarch, and the son of Zampea with his deceits and incites them to the ruin of the Domestic. 805

CAP. XX. The conspiracies of the conspirators in approaching the Empress. The accusation of the Grand Domestic. The true suspicion and interdict of the Empress. Artotus of the Asanes family succeeds with his mother Zampea. With them comes Chumnus with his son, and Manuel Cantacuzenus, his son-in-law. All are rejected, whom Apocauchus makes more audacious. Last of all, the patriarch and Andronicus Asanes struggle as if they were triarii with the Empress and overcome her; thus ^B

CAP. XXI. The patriarch ^C, having heard the proofs and the judgment, is terrified, and in turn terrifies the Empress with the gravity of the danger, and vehemently increases her suspicion regarding the Domestic, and more freely reproves his negligence in looking after his own and his children's safety. He recommends Asanes to her as an excellent advisor, who cunningly approaches her mind, reaches the goal, and concludes his speech with a magnificent promise, as he did to others also. 819

CAP. XXII. The Empress's illness and anxious mind. She again rejects the accusation, and again doubting and believing, she commits herself to their faith with tears. The mother of the Domestic with her grandson and the wife of Matthaeus, another grandson, are guarded in prison at home. Apocauchus becomes prefect of the city. The war is begun. What kind of soldier he has gathered. They do not dare to plunder and disturb the house of the Grand Domestic. Friends flee from the city because of the danger. They seek pardon from the Empress. Gabalas, the envoy, turns traitor; another is given into prison. 825

CAP. XXIII. The fugitives flee to Didymotichum; they relate the acts to the Grand Domestic; who, suspecting something else, wants to send them back to Byzantium. Later he sends envoys to the Empress, reminding her of her duty; he offers himself for judgment. The envoys are despoiled by the ministers of Apocauchus and are handed over to prison. The Domestic restrains his own men, who are in an uproar on account of this. An opportunity to speak is given to the envoys. Apocauchus prevents judgment from being decreed for the Domestic; to whom he says insults. The envoys are kept in custody. The alliance of the war is increased. The Domestic is declared a traitor. The nobles urge him to remove the delays. 827

CAP. XXIV. The letters of the Empress concerning abdication to the Domestic. He forbids more bitter [letters] of Apocauchus to be sent. The soldiers demand war; it is asked in the council what should be done. There follows the excellent oration of the Domestic, by which he attempts to free himself from the suspicion of affecting the empire, and in this name to gain great favor from his own men. He proposes his own plan, that he should go of his own accord into the power of the Empress and surrender himself completely. 833

CAP. XXV. The reply of the nobles, that they had deliberated often about these matters separately and together. That he had discoursed excellently; and yet if he should do what he had decided with himself, the war would not be ended, but rather begun. If he should put on the purple, he would better provide for public affairs, and all the illustrious men would approve of this; otherwise great evils would follow. The Domestic again rejects the name and habit of emperor, and again dispels the suspicion; and at last he obeys their will for the sake of the republic; and he exhorts them to keep faith and constancy to him; and he discourses on other things in an imperial manner, and thinks that an embassy should be sent regarding peace. 839

CAP. XXVI. The nobles rejoice that they have persuaded him; the whole army rejoices. Others are summoned to Didymotichum, that they may be present at his creation. He commands obedience to the cities of Thrace and Macedonia. The sentiment of all is not the same. Letters intercepted are carried to Byzantium; the adversaries exult. Certain letters are sent to the mother of the Domestic, and what she replied. The proscription and plunder of property. 847

CAP. XXVII. The Grand Domestic publicly takes the imperial attire at Didymotichum, and he and his wife are acclaimed in the third place. The imperial banquet and feast day. The wonders that happened at the inauguration of Cantacuzenus, the omens of future events. He commends himself to the bishop of Didymotichum, whose response and vision is remembered, and courage is added to the Domestic. The praise of that bishop for the faculty of prophecy, and the example of innocence vindicated by him in a woman. 853

CAP. XXVIII. A speech in which the new emperor, again excusing himself from the suspicion of occupying tyranny, complains about the injury. He gives a mission to certain soldiers. He sends those retained into the Byzantine territory, that they might prevent forces from leaving there; he himself plans to invade the city later. The contrary desires and sedition of the Adrianopolitans; the vexation and plunder of the optimates. How much envy Cantacuzenus suffered everywhere, and with what calamities his cause was labored. 865

CAP. XXIX. The Adrianopolitans, cast into straits, beg for help from the King of the Myrians, who comes to Adrianople in vain. How much his arrival harmed Cantacuzenus. The marauders of the Mysians are badly received by the Thracians and Persians. The Mysian, fearing, seeks peace, which Cantacuzenus grants him, though his own men are unwilling. He himself also seeks peace again from the Empress. His envoys are violated. A very close friend of the family is also intercepted and ignominiously vexed. 871

CAP. XXX. The riches of Cantacuzenus plundered, and their immensity, and what he grieved for. Andronicus Asanes, the father-in-law of Cantacuzenus, leads an army against his son-in-law; and how the whole province had been devastated. The depopulations of the barbarians. ^D Through the Zernomian marauders

^A they send to Byzantium with their leaders. At Byzantium, Cantacuzenus is most shamefully torn apart for various reasons. He is vehemently accused. He is excommunicated by the patriarch. He honors the empress and the magistrates. He takes action against his reviler. 875

CAP. XXXI. Cantacuzenus clears himself before three prefects regarding the receipt of the empire and the counsel not shared. All are offended and refuse alliance. Syrges, being more inequitable, invades his properties near Pherae. He despoils his friends of their fortunes and treats them inhumanely. The protostrator changes his mind; he promises he will surrender Thessalonica. Chreles the Triballian ^B and friend invites Cantacuzenus to the West. Consultation as to where they should go, and a double opinion; the emperor assents to the latter. 881

CAP. XXXII. Whom the Emperor Cantacuzenus left as leaders of the cavalry and suburban troops at Didymoteichon. With whom he went forth. The defection of Constantine Palaeologus. The fortress of Bera is attempted, and spared on account of the monks; Joannes Batatzes brings it into the allegiance of the empress. His fear. The siege of Peritheorion. Batatzes shamefully fails in his promises. 883

CAP. XXXIII. That Cantacuzenus had been most desirous of peace even before, is shown from his letter to the patriarch, full of Christian sentiments. The patriarch commits the messenger to prison. The empress repents the deed, and among the honored women, bears witness to the innocence of Cantacuzenus. The despair of Apocauchus, and his concern in inflaming the conspirators. Their plan to bind the empress by an oath. 891

CAP. XXXIV. The treacherous speech of the conspirators against Cantacuzenus, by which the empress is deterred from peace. That the patriarch does this more freely and vehemently while the others are withdrawing. The empress, unaware of the guile, swears an oath. She is guarded by the conspirators by turns during the day, and by her handmaidens at night; and her words are observed. The holier monks are called from Mount Athos to persuade her to peace; which they diligently attempt, and would have accomplished, had not the sanctity of the oath stood in their way. 895

CAP. XXXV. The patriarch and his associates grow angry at the monks. How they labored to drive them into discord, and for what causes. Regarding the leading men being as if confined in prison. Messengers returned from the protostrator call the emperor to Thessalonica. The assault on Peritheorion and with what reproaches he was taunted from the wall there. How he rewarded one of the revilers. The townsmen surrender, and by the counsel of a certain malevolent person among the imperialists, they retract the surrender by a stratagem. The emperor departs for Thessalonica. 901

^C CAP. XXXVI. - Emperor John is crowned at Byzantium. Dignities are conferred upon the conspirators. The patriarch’s pride in his vestments. Apocauchus, having laid aside the person, lays claim to supreme authority; he kills the relatives and associates of Cantacuzenus; he afflicts his mother with poverty. The mercy of the empress toward her, and the renewed cruelty of the Archons regarding the physician. His miserable death. The charity of Theodora, sister of Andronikos the younger, toward the dying and deceased. The empress’s excuse. The magnitude of the money found and its distribution. A horrible calumny contrived against Cantacuzenus. Apocauchus prepares a fleet against the army of Cantacuzenus on land. 909

CAP. XXXVII. A ruse devised against Syrges who is besieging the roads. Polystylos is fortified. Those sent to the protostrator bring back letters forbidding him to come now unless accompanied by Chreles. What Chreles replied when invited; whence the emperor is cast into straits. Scouts are sent to Pherae, and those captured are released humanely. Cantacuzenus purges himself in letters. A reply is written by Syrges and his associates; faith is denied to him. An answer is made, and the examples of the oath are discussed, and his innocence is confirmed again by an oath. 915

CAP. XXXVIII. Melenicus is occupied by Cantacuzenus. Chreles delays, fleeing danger. Upon his arrival in the camp, the Roman soldier rejoices. The wavering of the protostrator of Thessalonica. The sedition of the Zealots; the expulsion of the citizens and other foul deeds. The protostrator, having been driven out with the nobles, plunders the Thessalonian plain. Cantacuzenus, afflicted, places his hope in God. At Byzantium, the associates enter Thessalonica. Deliberation of Cantacuzenus with his exiles. 923

CAP. XXXIX. The emperor holds an assembly, having first given everyone the power to speak what he felt, and why they had evaded answering. He judges that because the matter is desperate, they must depart from the city, yet not to despair for the rest. The garrison of Rhentina is to be increased, which might harass Thessalonica, and how the Thessalonians, Acarnanians, and the rest of the mainland would come into their power. The protostrator dissuades the departure, but in vain; the signal is given. The defection of certain Thessalonians. The nobles strive to impede his journey. The overflowing of the Axius river, and the return of the army to Gynaecocastrum. 927

^D CAP. XL. Apocauchus is driven to Thessalonica, so that, just as in the islands, he might show his power. The protostrator defects to Apocauchus; thence a tumult. The emperor inveighs against those meditating defection as cowards and degeneres—how they confess themselves to be such and nevertheless depart. The benefits bestowed upon Apelmenes, and his ungrateful mind and pride. 935

CAP. XLI. The protostrator is chided. Andronikos Asanes, a boy, is entrusted to him. The magnanimity of the emperor and his speech, in which, the difficulty of affairs having been shown, he uplifts the spirits of the soldiers with most beautiful arguments and confirms them in virtue. He advises also that they go to the prince of the Triballians, and thence ask for help from a friend. The army, with the leaders, assents. The signal having been given, they depart; Apocauchus pursues them with great forces, without any fight, because of fear, clearly. How the emperor received the deserters upon returning. 937

CAP. XLII. The cavalry sent by Apocauchus free Edessa from the siege of the Triballians and plunder the camps. Zimpanus offers the emperor’s legates to Apocauchus in chains; by what injuries they were vexed. How humanely and liberally the emperor was treated by the lord of Prosacus; then by Liberus the Triballian, a most powerful dynast, and also an old friend, whose counsel he also uses. 945

CAP. XLIII. Liberus reconciles the Crales to Cantacuzenus, who meets him as he comes to him with his wife; and he is received with great honor and treated regally. To him, enumerating his calamities, he seeks friendship and help and excuses himself regarding the breach of faith. The Crales demands an excessive reward for the alliance, which Cantacuzenus refuses clearly and in a spirit truly imperial. 949

CAP. XLIV. The Crales is grieved by the refusal. Helena his wife, pleading the cause of Cantacuzenus before the nobles, teaches that he must by no means be killed, nor sent away empty, but helped, and that gratuitously, with only one condition set: that he swear he will be a friend and will demand none of the taken cities. Liberus praises her for her prudence, and embraces the counsel with the Crales and the others. The emperor irately rejects the counsel of his men regarding granting what the Crales requested. 955

CAP. XLV. The Crales announces joyful news to the emperor and asks that he not demand back the cities once taken, which he promises to do if they keep the treaty. In the presence of the archbishop, oaths are given between the Crales and the emperor under certain conditions. Contention concerning Chreles the Triballian. With what honor the arriving archbishop was received. Why Chreles wished to return to the Crales. Melenicus is surrendered to Chreles. A controversy between the kings on account of the same. The fortress of Rhentina is surrendered to Syrges; his tyranny against the garrison and certain citizens. 959

CAP. XLVI. What Apocauchus did at Polystylos; what he wrote to the Didymotichians, who reply with bitter letters, reproaching his base lineage and wicked character, and testifying that they would remain under the authority of Cantacuzenus and threatening evil to the following messengers. Apocauchus is received at Byzantium with applause and rules as he pleases. The madness of his wife Irene and her brother concerning Cantacuzenus. 967

CAP. XLVII. The spirits of the leaders and soldiers are tested regarding their loyalty to Cantacuzenus. Comitopulus the leader professes he will stand by him and exhorts the others to the same, and wishes him to be made certain of their loyalty. Batatzes approves his speech; he urges an oath; the oath is taken. A messenger from the emperor with his signet in wax; who, however, adds something of his own and narrates the event imperfectly, lest he sadden the listeners. 971

CAP. XLVIII. The suburban population rises into the town; the garrison breaks out and puts to flight the enemy, who are dispersed through various cities. The buildings are destroyed. The bishop’s prophecy comes to pass. The Triballian nobles repent of the promised help; they demand his son as a hostage. Liberus wishes his daughter to be betrothed to Manuel, the son of Cantacuzenus. The emperor agrees to both petitions. Liberus, having achieved his vow, rejoices. 977

CAP. XLIX. The emperor comes with auxiliaries to Pherae. Syrges becomes king of the Armenians by paternal right. The Pheraeans persistently refuse surrender. The diseases and deaths of the leaders and the army. Apocauchus sends garrisons to Christopolis. The emperor’s own sense of shame restrains the departing Triballians. The Romans, rioting, are rebuked by the same friend. Power having been given, many leave him for Christopolis. The perjury of the leaders there. The return of the deserters to the emperor. 981

Cap. L. The lie of the leaders at Christopolis. Thence public joy at Byzantium. What many suffered there on account of Cantacuzenus, and likewise in other cities. What things favored him against this. The inhumanity of the prefects for some time.

^A

examples, and the humanity of a certain captured Persian towards those being scourged, mocking the impostor regarding the sacred confession. Again, thanks are given for the victory over Cantacuzenus. 985

CAP. LI. The Emperor returns from Cral to Edessa, and receives it immediately; and again, due to a lack of a garrison to place therein, he leaves it for a time. Apocauchus invades Didymotichum, but in vain. He besieges the fortress of Empythium. In Didymotichum they regain their spirits at the true report. The siege of Empythium is lifted. They suffer from a shortage of provisions in Didymotichum; the Scythians, coming to plunder, return empty-handed. The Scopelenses, having rashly attacked the Scythians, pay dearly for their sin. Apocauchus commits the war to his son-in-law, the Protostrator, who is warned by the bishop to desist from the superfluous labor. 989

CAP. LII. The embassy of Anna to Cral with promises. The response of Cral and his faithfulness. The constancy of the Triballian nobles towards the Emperor, whom Bishop Macarius rebukes for their ungrateful spirit. He persuades them to send an embassy to the Emperor. The Emperor bitterly inveighs against him as a wicked man, ambitious, a traitor, and a murderer. 993

CAP. LIII. The Thessalians surrender themselves voluntarily to Cantacuzenus. He narrates his fortune to the legates, provides the cause why he cannot come to Thessaly himself, and designates John Angelos as prefect. The Thessalians accept him willingly. The bull which Cantacuzenus gave him for the purpose of dispelling the suspicion of tyranny held against him, and the very words of the same bull are recited, in which much is said in a Christian manner and accommodated to pious morals. The excellent recommendation of John Angelos, whom he makes prefect of Blachia and the fortresses. He enumerates the conditions imposed upon him. 999

CAP. LIV. The Emperor is summoned to Didymotichum by the besieged; he promises he will come. Apocauchus meets with Cral. The purpose of both and the cruelty of Apocauchus against the followers of Cantacuzenus. The Stratopedarch accuses him of vain expense on the fleet and persuades him to make peace with Cantacuzenus. Why the Empress abhorred that counsel. Cral accompanies the Emperor as far as Pherae. 1011

CAP. LV. Cral urges the Pheraeans to surrender to the Emperor. They refuse persistently, especially Constantine Palaeologus and the metropolitan. The condition offered to them by the Emperor is rejected, and the legate is also most cruelly killed. The Roman soldier, despairing, greatly desires to return to Didymotichum; the Emperor follows the advice. Cral brings devastation upon the Pheraeans. What kind of people the Triballians were who followed the Emperor into Thrace. It is decided to return to Cral for greater aid: the Romans dissenting and being unwilling, the Emperor is compelled to obey and head for Didymotichum. He is warned by the inhabitants of Didymotichum of the danger. A miracle regarding the journeys to the Emperor and the return to the Triballians. The Protostrator becomes suspect to his own men. Apocauchus is received at Byzantium with congratulations. A false rumor about Cantacuzenus. Apocauchus throws some into custody. 1017

CAP. LVI. The speech of Empress Irene, full of magnanimity. An embassy to Alexander, the King of the Moesians, for an alliance and a false promise, for certain reasons. Alexander attempts to impede the return of Cantacuzenus and to kill him. Cunning among the forces sent to Didymotichum. The hunger of the townspeople. The fraud of the Moesian leaders. The Moesians do not want to depart from the city. The exhortation and prediction of the bishop; likewise a letter to Apocauchus for Cantacuzenus and certain prophecies. The Moesians, terrified by the arrival of the Persians, flee. How Empress Irene received their satrap Amurius. His love for Cantacuzenus and his moderation. The passage through the wall at Christopolis. 1025

CAP. LVII. The Pheraeans surround Amurius with fictitious letters. Five hundred Persians died from the cold, besides the captives. Amurius returns home. How the heralds of the inhabitants of Didymotichum, fleeing to the enemy because of the cold, were treated. Why towns desiring to surrender to the Empress were not received. The anxieties and concerns of Cantacuzenus, to whom Arbenus, an obscure man, promises help and gives counsel about acquiring Berrhoea. The ready will of Cral to confer a favor in that matter. For what reasons the surrender was made. Legates sent to the Emperor, who turn him away. An admonition to Cral not to delay. 1055

CAP. LVIII. The Berrhoeans receive the Emperor joyfully. He invades Thessalonica, from which he is hindered from occupying by the Zealots and the populace. The treachery of Cral, who also incites the prefect of Thessalonica against the Emperor. The Germans want to desert him, obeying whom he returns to Berrhoea. Very many ships sail for Thessalonica. Because of the overflowing Axius, the Emperor is afflicted. The deceit of the Triballians. From a consultation it is decided that the passage must be attempted. Two of the Emperor’s sons are commended. 1063

CAP. LIX. A rustic reveals to the Emperor the ambush of the Triballians, by whose indication they cross the river at a ford. They come to Berrhoea, where the Germans receive their provisions. The conspirators are delivered to Cral. The leaders are handed over to him for punishment, which he pardons. Apocauchus incites Cral against the Emperor. The simulation of the same and the Emperor's sharp, and in part ironical, response. He demonstrates that out of three, not one would be of any benefit to him. He declares the danger of the same by an elegant fable. He shows those three things to be easy for himself and ridicules his lack of prowess, as above. 1017 ^B

CAP. LX. Apocauchus seeks counsel from his nobles. Monomachus rebukes the sycophants; he commends Cantacuzenus for his constancy in adversity, and proclaims his good fortune, and persuades him to make peace with him, offering to go to Byzantium as an envoy. His sentiment is approved by the rest: Apocauchus alone rejects it. 1065

CAP. LXI. Apocauchus stirs Cral to arms. Cral deceitfully asks for hostages from the Berrhoeans. He insidiously calls the Emperor to a consultation, and how he was deceived by him. Praise of divine providence towards the Emperor. Apocauchus urges the Berrhoeans to defect, to which they reply most sharply, and contemn him, and show that they will remain in the faith of the Emperor. A miracle concerning the Emperor not being injured by an archer, even a third time. The archer asks for pardon. Thanks are given to God. 1061

CAP. LXII. Consultation of Apocauchus. The double opinion of Monomachus. The grand duke hesitates and decides to return. The cunning advice of Monomachus again. The robberies of the Persians at Berrhoea. Cantacuzenus objects to the leaders’ stupidity. The fortress is captured. The cruelty of Apocauchus towards Theodore Pepagomenus. A slightly obscure exposition of things said by Cantacuzenus. The sea is guarded. 1067

CAP. LXIII. Cantacuzenus summons Amurius from Asia. Apocauchus tries to corrupt him with gifts, and he flees to Byzantium. The sadness of Amurius because of a false report. His speech, by which he demonstrates the reason for the expedition, his zeal in helping Cantacuzenus, and his incredible love and great concern for him. He advises that, having burned the ships, they must contend for the Emperor over land. He also brilliantly rouses his men not to flee from the labor. The voyage into Macedonia. 1071

CAP. LXIV. The Persians plunder the places around Thessalonica. The Emperor takes care that the region of Cral be invaded. An embassy is sent to the same, by which loyalty is promised to him. He comes to Thessalonica with his forces. The meeting with Amurius. The cruelty of the Zealots against the studious followers of the Emperor. He departs into Thrace with Amurius. Peritheorium is besieged. The humanity of the Emperor towards the captive. An embassy for peace to the Empress. Apocauchus is snatched into hatred. Amurius also separately impels her to peace, and terrifies her with his friendship with Cantacuzenus. 1079

CAP. LXV. The legate of Cantacuzenus is treated cruelly and ignominiously. The curses of Apocauchus against the Emperor and his purpose. Amurius brings to the Emperor the letters sent to him by Apocauchus unopened, and brings counsel of the deed. The divine message of the Bishop of Didymotichum. Joy over the return of the Emperor and the holidays. What the same bishop had predicted to a certain Glabas. Two fortresses and the rural folk surrender themselves, to whom Momitzitus is placed in charge, whose character is described. 1085

CAP. LXVI. The Emperor comes to Didymotichum with Amurius. The cities of Thrace refusing the empire pay the penalties. He occupies the cities against his will. The illness of Amurius. A garrison is sent to Adrianople. Robbers near Didymotichum are slain and captured. Amurius escapes death, having obeyed the advice of the Emperor. Aid is sought from the King of the Moesians, and nine cities are given to him. How the conspirators tried to lead the Persians out of Thrace by a certain Mauromates, from whom they were receiving provisions. Amurius is unable to retain his men in Thrace, and complains of this to the Emperor. 1091

CAP. LXVII. The Emperor gives thanks to Amurius, and persuades him to send an embassy for peace to Byzantium, so that they might obtain what is necessary for his departure. He is rebuked. At Constantinople, Amurius, lest he demean himself too much to Cantacuzenus and may have demeaned himself. They promise him ships and money. He defends himself and the Emperor. An elegant passage concerning the difference of servitude. His departure is sought from him. 1097

CAP. LXVIII. The Emperor visits the sick Blium. A miracle concerning the Emperor and his companions saved by the Persians. Two Persian scouts are treated badly by robbers. A flight between the Imperial and Byzantine forces at Asomatum. The stratagem of the Emperor and the victory. Return to the camp. Thanksgiving for his safety and that of his companions. An exhortation about never omitting the watches. The departure of Amurius into Asia and his promises. How that same departure was convenient for the Emperor. By whom war was brought upon him immediately. The siege of Gratianopolis, and a pact with the captives, Smyrna captured, the Persian ships burned. 1101 ^C

CONTENUTS OF THIS VOLUME

^A CAP. LXIX. The battle between the Persians and the Triballi. The Persians win by a certain ruse, and agree to serve Cantacuzenus for pay. Gratianopolis is captured. How the prefect Angeitzes provided no small amount of money. The objections of the Bishop of Didymotichus. Alesander Mosus, having entered Mortham and heard of the emperor's arrival, flees across the Hebrus. He replies to the legates. 1109

CAP. LXX. Momitzilus burns three Persian ships. The remaining Persians, having falsely learned that their allies had been killed by him, burn with a desire for vengeance. The emperor, with Momitzilus arriving unexpectedly, enters into great danger, and while his own men flee, he defends himself strenuously against those pursuing. The fidelity of Lantzaretes toward his lord, which the emperor rewards most faithfully. Momitzilus is created a despot by the empress; the emperor forgives him as he begs for mercy and increases his rank. The Persians, by agreement, request their release and return to Asia. 1115

CAP. LXXI. The Emperor Palæologus, being ill, returns to Byzantium. The perfidious Mosus sends aid to Apocauchus. Empythium is besieged in vain. He is rebuked by the emperor as a turncoat and a liar. The emperor’s clever plan. The son-in-law of Apocauchus is drowned in the Hebrus. His departure to Didymotichus with the army. The emperor, by arrangement, awaits him in armor. Those who had come to attack are repelled. Apocauchus ravages Morrham. Momitzilus defects from the empress and the emperor, and plots his own principality. 1119

CAP. LXXII. The leaders of the empire lament its wretched state and advise peace to the empress. Apocauchus, arriving in Byzantium, enters his own stronghold without greeting the empress. He reproaches the Patriarch for his inconstancy, instructs him on the danger he is in, and urges him to persist in implacable enmity toward the emperor. He proclaims what he has done for the favor of the empress and her children. He also rebukes Gabalas, draws him to his own side, gives him his own daughter as a wife, and chides him and his fellow archons for their impudence. 1123

^B CAP. LXXIII. The embassy of Apocauchus to the empress, by which he is inflamed anew against Cantacuzenus. Apocauchus rules again, though more modestly, and persuades her to send an embassy to advise the emperor to look after his own interests. An embassy is sent with two letters, which are read. They contain joy over the abdication of Cantacuzenus, which Apocauchus had lied about him contemplating. The legates signify on what condition they will come. The emperor’s equanimity. 1129

CAP. LXXIV. An inquiry is made into the emperor's actions, and it is shown that he has governed the republic well; his adversaries are refuted. The emperor’s response to the legates. He reproaches the princes for their ignobility and imprudence; he deplores the state of the republic. He rallies against Apocauchus and dispels the crimes imputed to him, while recriminating against the patriarch. He repeats what was done between himself and the empress regarding the abdication and recovery of the empire, with the patriarch as intermediary. Likewise, what passed between him and the patriarch, so that his treachery might be exposed. He also complains about his own legates being treated most injuriously in Constantinople, and about the iniquity demonstrated against him. He attacks Apocauchus separately. He proves that the patriarch and his party are the authors of the calamity brought on by the war, and teaches how manifold that calamity has been. He also rejects what the patriarch had written—that the bosom of the Church was open to one who abdicated and repented, and that his punishment would be remitted. He also discourses on the power of excommunication. He concludes that they have been the cause of all evils, that they covet the empire, and he signifies once more his supreme desire for peace. 1133

CAP. LXXV. The legates of Pheræ request pardon and aid, on the advice of the Triballian princes. A proof of the inconstant fortune of Pheræ. The most humane emperor refreshes the legates. He terrifies the Byzantine legates with their example, and teaches that the empire cannot be defended by induction. It is shown that, contrary to the assertion of the legates, the empress is not of her own jurisdiction. The men of Pheræ are dismissed with a good hope, but are plundered by the soldiers of Momitzilus. The steadfastness of the legates of Chrysoberges in keeping secrets. Garella is surrendered. Peace is requested again through a minister of the empress. 1155

CAP. LXXVI. The castles are surrendered. The cause of the defection and surrender of Batatzes. The remuneration of him and his relatives. The generosity of the Sultan Satrap. The custom of dining at daybreak. The citizens of Chora are punished for their malediction due to an earthquake. They are pardoned by the emperor. The walls of Chora are rebuilt. The emperor's supporters are exterminated, and a return is made to the empress. 1161

CAP. LXXVII. The Great Duke is again appointed prefect of the army. Through treachery he attempts to kill Cantacuzenus. He sends threatening letters to him. He replies sharply, and reproaches him for his ingratitude and supreme impropriety. ^C He quibbles over the word *oikia*; he mocks Apocauchus as an old man unfit for war. He comes to Heraclea, and from there proceeds elsewhere. The auxiliary Persians devastate the regions around Byzantium. The *fasius* of Apocauchus is intolerable. The cities of Thrace surrender to the emperor; his humanity in dismissing the prefects. A comparison of the emperor with the conspirators, and from their vilification, his excellent praise. 1165

CAP. LXXVIII. The cities toward the Pontus are raided by the emperor. He is summoned by his friends to Adrianople. Their rashness contrary to prohibition. The party of the empress recovers the city. Manuel, son of Apocauchus and prefect of the city, defects to Cantacuzenus, is treated humanely, and honored. What was done at Byzia, and by what artifice the emperor attempted to move them to surrender. 1171

CAP. LXXIX. Amzus the Persian betrays an associate who had been suborned to kill the emperor. The emperor forbids him to be killed, and sets him free. The people of Bizya, having held a consultation, do not surrender. Anna is acclaimed as empress with her son, then Cantacuzenus and his wife. The surrender of several towns. Manuel Asanes becomes prefect of Bizya. The miserable end of the protostrator and other friends of Apocauchus. The same man’s ruse, by which he avoided the reputation of cowardice; and his not foolish mockery and grave rebuke. 1175

CAP. LXXX. Gabalas, a corpulent and obese man, is cleverly and wickedly deceived regarding the daughter of the treacherous Apocauchus. And how Apocauchus attempted to deprive him of life with admirable impostures and most cunning simulations. This example is to be noted, if any other of this kind exists. 1179

^D CAP. LXXXI. Cantacuzenus obtains the alliance of Orchanes the Persian against the empress. Towns toward the Pontus are captured by him. A wondrous dream of his son, Manuel. The emperor comes to the gates of Byzantium. Apocauchus, having gone out with a few men, flees. Romans and Persians pillage the territory, with the emperor and the Romans feeling pity. 1183

CAP. LXXXII. The Galatians, desiring to know about the author of the war and its causes, send legates to Cantacuzenus to inquire. They are two monks, one of whom is a kinsman of the Empress Anna. The emperor, in replying, traces the matter from its head and teaches what indignities he has endured. He also defends himself concerning the Persian advocates and shows that his adversaries had implored their aid in vain. How much time was consumed in this colloquy. 1189

CAP. LXXXIII. Aregus the monk begins his discourse from a common locus: that a sentence ought not to be passed when the other party is unheard. He says he had hated the emperor based on hearsay, but afterward became his greatest friend and would proclaim his praises even in Italy. He asks what he thinks about peace. The emperor shows himself to be his lover. He complains about the wickedness of his adversaries, and what he would do if they would allow him to be emperor and a colleague of the emperor. His wonderful love toward the common good. On what condition he is willing to cede the empire. 1193

CAP. LXXXIV. Aregus praises the emperor's oration and receives a response that the terms must be reported to Byzantium. At his requests, the emperor withdraws with his army. Aregus delivers the letters to Byzantium and calls upon the princes for peace. Apocauchus declares war and prayers [liturgies] to the Byzantines, feigns that he will meet with Cantacuzenus, and returns to the city with nothing accomplished. The emperor captures certain towns. The sorties of the garrisons. A letter from Apocauchus and the patriarch to Cantacuzenus regarding abdication and keeping his promise. Aregus the monk, being ignorant of the Greek language, is deluded. The emperor interprets the letter he was carrying; he becomes enraged. The emperor also inveighs against them as liars and sycophants, and threatens them with celestial vengeance. 1201

CAP. LXXXV. Apocauchus besieges the Empyrites in vain and demands customs duties; but the matter does not proceed because power is lacking. How he was feignedly mocked by the nobles. Apocauchus is reproached by Aregus for his fraudulence, cowardice, and timidity. Aregus, having been called, refuses to come and openly accuses Apocauchus and his associates of impiety and impudence. The emperor comes to Byzantium, hostile, and then withdraws. Adrianople and the surrounding small towns surrender. What the emperor did with the three who surrendered, and how they came to his side, having understood his intention to retain the empire. They bind their faith with an oath. The three prefects, though given the power to depart, swear faith to him and receive their prefectures. 1209

CAP. LXXXVI. Why Amurius could not return to the emperor. An embassy to Sarchanes regarding passage through Lydia. The Persians rush into Moesia; with the Romans they seek Momitzilus, who begs for war in vain. He is let in by those of Peritheorium with fifty men; he falls in battle. His army, fighting most bravely, is partly slaughtered and partly captured. The emperor laments this fortune.

Order of Contents

tor. A common topic concerning the mutability of fortune. The Xanthians mourn their slain and surrender the city. The wonderful humanity of the emperor toward his wife Monitzili. 1215

CAP. LXXXVII. — Concerning Crale, and how he seeks vengeance for his defeat. The Pheraeans are urged to defect from the Romans. A faction requests the emperor's aid. He threatens Crales, lest he depart and stop destroying the peace. The impostures of Apocauchus are repeated. His plan to abandon the continent and live on the sea. His tyranny in Byzantium, by punishing and plundering people in prison. Regarding the prison he thought to construct. How he sought an alliance with the empress through marriage, and created a danger for her by means of forged letters. The reply of Pope Clement; and what Apocauchus intended to do if the ruse did not succeed. 1221

CAP. LXXXVIII. — Apocauchus fortifies himself with a guard; he has a trireme ready for flight. He labors under the greatest envy. He hurries the building of the prison. He is killed by a compact among the captives. His body, and his head severed from the wall, are displayed. The killers are slaughtered by the people, with only a few escaping. Letters from the friends and wife of Apocauchus to Cantacuzenus concerning the death of Apocauchus, and their invitation to Byzantium, and the convenience of occupying it. 1227

CAP. LXXXIX. — A report of the embassy to Crales; a plan to demand the Pheraean faction. The nobles in council urge that he should go to Byzantium without delay, which the emperor rejects. Pelius Pheras is to go first. The Persian leaders win, and he must immediately return with all his forces to Byzantium; the wife of Apocauchus withdraws to Epibates. The emperor casts the blame for the loss of the Pueras and the cities of Macedonia onto the Persian leaders, whom he persuades to return with him to Macedonia. Suliman the Persian dies. Amurius returns home to defend his own province: Sarchani hardly manages to convince them of his innocence. Crales occupies Pherae: he commands that he be proclaimed emperor of the Romans and Triballians. He calls his son Crales. 1231

CAP. XC. — Batatzes, abandoned by the emperor, ravages the Byzantine countryside. Out of ambition, he defects to the empress. Why the empress was so strongly averse to peace. The emperor urges Batatzes to keep his faith. His simulation. He forces the emperor to take up arms against him. The emperor's dream. Batatzes is killed by the Persians on account of Cantacuzenus. The little fort of Empyrites is given to the empress. The emperor plans for Byzantium, followed by Hierax and Paraspondylus with their cohorts. Phrangopulus, though ill, is brought into the camp against the emperor's will, and, having revealed the treacherous plot, saves him. 1237

CAP. XCI. — Hierax promises the death of the emperor. The emperor does not believe the messengers of this matter. Later, believing them, he admonishes Hierax of his duty. He denies the deed. He is believed. Again the perfidious man conducts business with the Byzantines, and a certain Paraspondylus does the same, who betrays Hierax for two reasons. Hierax is wounded in battle and visited by the emperor; after being gently rebuked, he lies again that he is innocent. He flees to Byzantium. How he excused himself to the Byzantines for the death not brought about. Paraspondylus defects to the emperor. The emperor's friends who had been betrayed return to him. The emperor returns to Selybria. Hierum is almost occupied, but soon lost through negligence. 1245

CAP. XCII. — Emperor Cantacuzenus is crowned by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and he crowns his wife. The Patriarch of Constantinople is excommunicated by the bishops. The emperor refuses to designate his son as emperor. With what spirit he approached the empire; in what an oration he defends his cause regarding the non-affected tyranny, as he has often done before, and declares his own integrity. 1249

CAP. XCIII. — The cause of the Thessalonians is explained, which Palæologus provided as a colleague in the office of John Apocauchus, during the time he was abusing his power; whom Apocauchus kills. The wickedness and impiety of the Zealots. Certain men are slaughtered by the people. One is dragged through the forum and killed, having been pelted with stones and wood. Apocauchus acts on behalf of the Cantacuzenists, punishes the Zealots, pretends to defect to the empress, and once the father is killed, openly professes Cantacuzenism and surrenders Thessalonica to him, with the council approving. Georgius Cocalas and Andreas Palæologus are praised. 1255

CAP. XCIV. — Three legates to Cantacuzenus. What the Thessalonians requested from his son; the joy over their requests being granted; Andreas Palæologus stirs up trouble out of ambition, for which the sailors and heavy-armed soldiers are prepared to contend. The Zealots stir up the people again. The legate of Apocauchus escapes to Palæologus with a wound. Cocalas deceives him. The reasons why those who were sitting before the fortress hoped for the best. The fraud and perversity of Cocalas. The cowardice and perfidy of the soldiers of Apocauchus. The fortress is occupied by Palæologus. Apocauchus is handed over to prison with almost a hundred citizens. A false rumor about the prisoners. Apocauchus is thrown from the wall and beheaded. The same happens to others. Concerning the eating of human flesh. Matthæus, the emperor's son, conducts matters well in Thrace. 1259

CAP. XCV. — The emperor deals secretly in vain with his friends in Byzantium. The Patriarch of Constantinople, elected by the pope, is killed by the Persians in a temple at Smyrna along with several nobles. The Chians, forced by the Genoese, surrender themselves. Phaceolatus returns to Byzantium with his triremes after Chios is captured; he captures and plunders a Genoese merchant ship; he kills the passengers; he is made a priest by the Galatæans. The empress invokes the aid of the prince, Carbona, of the Mpatics. She makes his brother the leader of the army. Phaceolatus's victory at Tomprotitza. Orchanes seeks the emperor's daughter in marriage; the reply is deferred. The nobles and Amurius advise that she be given. The bride is shown to the people at Selybria with singular ceremony. Extraordinary praise of her. 1267

CAP. XCVI. — Spies are sent from two cities to the Pontus, by whose information an assassin is discovered, who says he was deterred from the deed by the emperor's voice. The empress, with her nobles, seeks aid from Sarchanis, the satrap of Lydia. Amurius's ruse for helping Cantacuzenus. Sarchanis's forces defect to the emperor; they ask for the power to go to Byzantium to receive gifts and money. The governors make a pact with them. The Persians are deterred by Cantacuzenus from the perfidious deed. They capture and plunder those they meet. They are entertained at a banquet by the emperor; those who were sailing past Byzantium are struck by arrows. Having been given gifts, the Persians are sent home. They ravage Moesia. The emperor is excused. His complaint about the Roman enemies, as the authors of all evils. 1275

CAP. XCVII. — A certain Monomachus is sent to kill the emperor. His ruse and ambushes. The presence of poison is notable. The emperor is warned by his friends; the assassin is dismissed with impunity. Zyraces, the empress's domestic, plots to bring Constantinople under the emperor. The hatred of the Galatæans toward Phaceolatus, and their zeal to kill him. The empress's concern for him. His bodyguard, and the plan for preparing a way for the emperor into the city, and a pact made with Zyraces regarding this matter. Microcephalus is chosen as legate to the emperor. They choose the same man to be opposed, so that they might kill certain ones of the imperial party. The emperor goes to Adrianople to avoid suspicion. 1281

CAP. XCVIII. — The cause why the empress became alienated from the patriarch. The matter is traced back to its beginning. The fury and madness of the patriarch in condemning and punishing those who correctly held views on religion. He is accused before the empress by the bishops concerning his morals and religion. The empress's own diligence in protecting the Church, and the council that was convened. 1287

CAP. XCIX. — The arrival of Cantacuzenus in Byzantium is announced. Why the empress did not believe immediately. Why the emperor did not bring more soldiers. His concern and grief. His friends dig through the Golden Gate with fear. The patriarch is deposed. The emperor entering the city with the applause of the people, forbids looting. The empress fortifies the palace; she is assisted by the Galatæans who were invited, but they are repelled by the people. The emperor pleads his case before the bishops and the leaders of the clergy. He threatens the empress, unless she agrees to the terms. He sends legates to her; he shows in how much danger she is. 1289

CAP. C. — The virtue of the emperor is praised. The empress holds the embassy in contempt. The emperor is most deeply saddened. The reasons why he fears fiercely for the empress. The fortress in Blachernæ is taken by storm. The defenders of the palace meditate defection. John, the adolescent emperor, acts as the author of a composition to his mother. An embassy to the emperor, in which the empress submits herself. Asabes, the father-in-law, is reproached as an ungrateful legate. Paramas, the other legate, is commended for his constancy. Some conditions of peace, and the oaths of both. The emperor enters the palace. 1295

THE END OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-THIRD VOLUME.